a review of

1. Considering a few branches of math ( algebraic topology, plus some
subvariants like graph theory or knot theory), any 2 dimensional graph/glyph
immediately loses its Pythagorean mystique. If one can functionally transform
a graph, "distort" it etc, - the supposition of a graph as a container
of profound mysteries becomes ludicrous and preposterous. If a circle and
an ellipse are topologically identical, there is no need to become pathologically
addicted to one or another.

2. Even with the suspension of disbelief re point 1., the Platonic idea
of archetypal attributes is heavily obsolete. Ol' Plato
had dealt a coup de grace in "Parmenides"; however, Neoplatonists
were kind enough to skip over this. Yet, even they have been cautious with
numerics; even they say that Allah's/God's 99 names is a poetic approximation.
( BTW: how come 99 holy names got reduced to 9 holy ideas ? Beats me. )

3. Whirling down from Nous
to Psyche and Hyle, one is
forced to ask: why exactly this psychological typology?
What's the reason behind the building blocks ? Why "performer" or
"the epicure" instead of, say,"the stoic" or "realist" ? Or "Snoopy" or
"Lucy van Pelt" ? Why not different traits ? Why these lines, why the circle
? And, what's the point with these points being so pointlessly and
arbitrarily connected ?

4. As for Riso and other pop-psychologizing Jesuits and Salesians, I
only wish ol' Tomas de Torquemada were alive.

5. Finally, a word on the glyph: it is an archaic cosmologico-spiritual
symbol, originating in Sumero-Chaldean milieu and concisely summarizing
their conception of the universe and descent and ascent of the "soul".
Essentially, this is a Hermetic, spherical Ptolemaic and geocentric cosmos
as preserved in the traditions of Mandeans and Sabeans, later blended and
modified by the Neoplatonist influence into a symbol of alchemical "opus".
It is the veritable irony of history that a fossil of
palaentological spiritual cognition has become a New
Age icon. As Charlie Brown would put it:" My mind is reeling with cynical
remarks."

See also Gurdjieff and Work for a more detailed assesment (in pdf format) of the Gurdjieff system